Colonel Sönke Marahrens takes up the position of Director of Community of Interest on Strategy and Defence (COI S&D) at Hybrid CoE on 1 October 2021.
Mr Marahrens replaces Dr Johann Schmid, who has worked in this position since the establishment of COI S&D in 2018, and is now moving to a new position outside of the Centre.
Mr Marahrens is a career Air Force officer, and is moving to Hybrid CoE from his position as Head of Research for Strategy and Armed Forces at the German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies in Hamburg. He holds a master’s degree from the Royal Military College in Kingston, Canada, and another from the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg. In addition, he has a full Diploma in Computer Science.
Mr Marahrens has been deployed with NATO to Bosnia and Kosovo, and in 2020 he served as Branch Head for Transition at NATO HQ Resolute Support in Kabul, Afghanistan.
“I am proud and honoured to join Hybrid CoE, whose members are highly committed to protecting the freedom and rights of European citizens and their friends and allies through research, exploration and new ideas,” Mr Marahrens said.
The Community of Interest on Strategy and Defence focuses on hybrid warfare, related strategies and implications for security policy, the military and defence. It aims at uncovering the essence and nature of hybrid warfare, as well as the logic and pattern of hybrid strategies in order to develop a solid analytical framework as a basis for the assessment of current and future hybrid warfare situations and their practical implications.
